A Method for Back Pain – Grinberg and Bear It

Published August 19th, 2012 - 12:40 GMT

Back pain is one of the most common health problems

Back pain is one of the most common health problems, globally affecting 80% of people at some point during their lives. Studies show that back pain is the most frequent cause of inactivity and physical limitations in people younger than 45 years old.

Back pain is cited by governments across the globe as having a huge impact on productivity, due to the loss of workers on sick leave. Some governments, including in Australia and the United Kingdom, have over the years launched public health awareness campaigns to help fight the problem; for example, the Health and Safety Executive's Better Backs campaign.

Part of the difficulty with treatment is that there are different types of pain. Back pain can range from a dull, constant ache to a sudden and sharp pain.

Lower-back pain

Lower-back pain is considered one of the most significant medical problems. Research on lower-back pain has found that chronic pain is a devastating and widespread problem, with one in five people suffering from moderate to severe chronic pain during their lives.

Based on data, people with chronic pain suffer for 7 years on average; one in five for 20 years or more. A report says: "Across Europe, chronic pain accounts for nearly 500 million lost working days every year - costing the European economy at least €34 billion." In the United States lower back pain is the number one reason for individuals under the age of 45 to limit their activity, the second highest complaint seen in physicians' offices, the fifth most common requirement for hospitalization, and the third leading cause for surgery. These statistics show the depth of back pain's collective economic impact.

In addition, over 40% of chronic pain sufferers say their pain conflicts with everyday activities, from lifting and carrying to exercising and sleeping.

Grinberg Method - Change of Attitude

One of the most successful ways to cope with pain is called the Grinberg Method (GM). The GM preaches a methodology of attention and teaches people to increase and focus their attention on their bodies and gain control over them.

Méthode Grinberg sees the suffering that is the result of long-term pain as the consequence of the way people relate to their bodies and the efforts they invest in trying to avoid pain. Although many times people are not responsible for the cause of their pain and cannot be blamed for the situation, they are responsible for how they respond to the existence of pain in their lives.

The GM focuses on this response, observing how it can entrench the experience of pain and turn it into a pattern that repeats and how, through a change of attitude, the experience of pain can be transformed. It should be emphasized that the GM does not seek to heal, fix or erase pain; rather, it aims at using a person's self-discipline and will to reduce suffering, which many times leads to the disappearance of pain.

The GM's Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct is a direct outcome of the Grinberg Method's discipline. In fact, it includes elements which appear in other methods and practices as they are moral rights and wrongs that are expected to be kept by any professional who provides a service.